Lacy, Elizabeth Churchill Jones – Lyons, Elizabeth Watkins Henry

Lacy, Elizabeth Churchill Jones, Memoir, 1903. 7 pp. Photocopy of typescript. Mss5:1L1195:1.In this brief memoir composed near the end of her life, Elizabeth Churchill (Jones) Lacy (1829–1907) recalls her childhood in Spotsylvania County, including a visit to James and Dolley Madison at Montpelier and attending Miss Little's school in Fredericksburg. Lacy also describes her courtship and marriage, as well as her experiences while her husband fought in the Civil War. There is some genealogical and biographical information on members of the Gordon, Coalter, Churchill, Jones, and Grymes families.

Ladies Memorial Association of Appomattox, Minutes, 1866–1870. 1 volume. Mss4L1246a1.The Ladies Memorial Association of Appomattox was founded in 1866 to reinter Confederate soldiers buried at Appomattox Court House. The women acquired donations of land to establish Clover Hill Cemetery and of timber and labor for constructing coffins and transferring the bodies. This volume includes names of soldiers as well as names of the Association's members. There is also discussion of plans for the annual celebration in May.

Laird, Alicia Henning, Album, ca. 1850. 1 volume. Mss5:5L1448:1.This drawing book, given to Alicia Henning Laird by her mother, Agnes (Berry) Laird, contains artwork created by various family members. Alicia did most of the finely detailed pencil drawings, paintings, and paintings on velvet of people, flowers, and landscapes, but a few are signed by Agnes. Alicia's aunt, Alicia Henning, contributed the birchbark and paper examples of scissors-cutting. Also included are a sketch by Alex Laird, "as a young boy," and two woodcuts by Alicia Laird. Poems accompany some drawings, and scenes from Scotland and oriental themes predominate. An Alicia Laird sketch of Temple farm in Yorktown, 1881, appears in the Houston Family Papers (Mss1H8185aFA2).

Lane, Jane Collins, Papers, 1861–1865. 15 items. Mss2L2422b.Consists of letters, 1861–1865, written to Jane (Collins) Lane (of Charlotte County) by her husband and two brothers while away from home serving in the Confederate Army. Of particular interest are letters from her husband, Edward V. Lane (at Camp Lee, Henrico County [now Richmond], and while serving in the 56th Virginia Infantry Regiment), discussing camp life and his bouts with illness, and offering advice to Jane about financial matters (including a suggestion that she hire out their slave Emeline to raise money).

Langollen School for Boys, Records, 1806–1849. 12 items. Mss3L7702a. Microfilm reels C358–359.The collection includes four account books and a commonplace book, 1806–1823, kept by John Lewis (1784–1858), founder and headmaster of the Langollen School for Boys in Spotsylvania County. Despite its name, Langollen apparently accepted girls as well as boys. The volumes include lists of students and expenses for the school. Lewis emigrated to Kentucky in 1832, where he became principal of the Georgetown Female Academy; the collection contains a small amount of information on his work there.

Larue Family Papers, 1846–1889. 41 items. Mss1L3295a. Microfilm reel C470.This collection contains the papers of John Billups Larue (1792–1875) of Clarke County and Jefferson County (now W. Va.) and his children; however, the correspondence of his son William Augustin M. Larue (1832–1895) and his wife, Eliza Cornelia (Grantham) Larue (1835–1905), make up more than half the collection. William Larue's correspondence, 1846–1861, includes letters to his wife and from his sister, Eliza Columbia Larue (1833–1862) (section 2). Cornelia Larue's correspondence, 1855–1864, contains letters from family members and friends, most dating from before her marriage (section 3).

Lee Family Papers, 1638–1867. 684 items. Mss1L51f. Microfilm reels C225–229.Most of this collection dates from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; documents center around men in the Ludwell and Lee families who held various positions in the colonial and later state and national governments. Women figure primarily as heiresses or in materials pertaining to Native Americans or African American slaves. The collection as a whole illuminates the political and economic development of the Virginia colony and early United States.

Philip Ludwell I (1638?–1714) of James City County served as deputy secretary of the colony of Virginia during the 1670s; around 1680 he married the widow of the governor of Virginia, Lady Frances (Culpeper) Stephens Berkeley Ludwell (1639–1695?). She brought the Green Spring plantation in James City County into the possession of the Ludwell family. Philip Ludwell's papers include correspondence with his son, Philip Ludwell II (1672–1727), and various British colonial officials and merchants regarding government, politics, and commerce (sections 4–7). A letter, 1678, to Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State for the Northern Department, discusses attempts by Cockacoeske, "queen of the Pamunkey," to assert her authority over a neighboring Indian group (section 8).

The papers of Philip Ludwell II of Green Spring include a range of documents that illuminate politics within Virginia and the empire. Ludwell's diaries, 1708–1710, which actually combine the functions of a journal and a letterbook, were kept while he served as one of Virginia's commissioners to settle a boundary dispute with North Carolina (sections 13–14). Other materials concerning the boundary dispute include depositions of Weyanock women and Nottaway and Nansemond men concerning the movements of Indian peoples during the years after Opechancanough's Uprising in 1644 (section 13). Correspondence with various colonial officials and merchants discusses politics and pirates. Materials pertaining to the College of William and Mary include faculty appointments (section 78); there are several documents, 1715–1718, regarding the Indian trade (section 79). Ludwell had handwritten copies of the Acts of the Virginia Assembly, 1646–1726, 1705, 1710, 1720, 1722, 1723, and the papers also include docket books, ca. 1720, 1723, 1724, 1725, 1726, and 1754, for the Virginia General Court that contain a record of suits pleaded and decisions rendered (sections 81–94).

Papers of his son, Philip Ludwell III (1716–1767), primarily concern his estate and include an inventory, 1769, that lists slaves and personal property at each of several quarters in Virginia (section 97). The estate was divided between his daughters, Lucy (Ludwell) Paradise (1751–1814) and Hannah Philippa (Ludwell) Lee (1737–1784). Among the papers of Lucy (Ludwell) Paradise's estate is an inventory, 1812 (section 98). A file of materials on Green Spring contains scattered patents, deeds, and sketches of buildings for the period from 1658 to 1797 (section 99).

Hannah Ludwell married William Lee, and most of the materials for the eighteenth century center on her husband and his brothers. Papers of William Lee (1739–1795) consist of eleven letterbooks, 1769–1793, kept in London, at Green Spring, and while he served as a United States commissioner in Berlin, Germany, Vienna, Paris, Frankfurt, and Brussels during the American Revolution (sections 113–122); correspondence, 1769–1792, and a few legal papers, 1778 and 1780 (sections 123–125). There is also a letter, 1769, from Richard Corbin (1714–1790) congratulating Hannah Ludwell Lee on her marriage (section 126). Papers of Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) of Chantilly in Westmoreland County, who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia, include correspondence, 1765–1792, with family members and government officials (section 108), as well as a copy of his resolution calling for a Continental Congress presented to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1774 (section 110). The collection includes a small amount of correspondence of William Lee's brothers, Arthur Lee (1740–1792) (section 129) and Philip Ludwell Lee (1727–1775) (section 106), as well as of his cousin Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee (1756–1818) (section 134). There are a few family letters of Lee women dating from the nineteenth century.

Lee Family Papers, 1732–1892. 71 items. Mss1L51b. Microfilm reel B21.Contains materials relating to several generations of the Lee and related Custis families of Virginia. Included are documents concerning Custis family ownership of land in King William and New Kent counties, and in Williamsburg (sections 10–23); George Washington's (1732–1799) purchase of Mount Pleasant, King and Queen County, and Woromonkoke (later Romancoke) and Gooches, King William County (sections 1–9); and a diary, 1855–1861, kept by Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) while serving in the U.S. Army (section 28).

Materials relating to women in the collection include a letter, 1830, written by Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee (1808–1873) to her husband, Robert E. Lee, discussing the health of her mother, Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis (1788–1853), and a visit to Ravensworth, Fairfax County (section 29); a letter, n.d., from Mildred Childe Lee (1846–1905) to her mother, Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee, concerning a visit with her brother Robert Edward Lee (1843–1914) and Mildred's impending return to the Lee home in Lexington (section 36); and two scrapbooks, 1732–1892 and 1816–1892, compiled by Mary Custis Lee (1835–1918) containing materials that chronicle the life of her father, Robert E. Lee, the family's relationship to George Washington, the Civil War, her father's presidency of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, and her travels around the world (sections 40 and 41). Materials in the scrapbooks—including correspondence, poems, invitations, newspaper clippings, engravings, and photographs—document Mary Custis Lee's deep interest in her family's rich history as well as her own experiences.

Lee Family Papers, 1824–1918. 742 items. Mss1L51c. Microfilm reels C279–282.The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, 1831–1870, between Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) and his wife, Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee (1808–1873), discussing family news, her fragile health, the raising of their children, her management of their home, and his life in the United States and Confederate States armies. Also included are letters exchanged between the Lees and Mrs. Lee's parents, George Washington Parke Custis (1781–1857) and Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis (1788–1853) of Arlington, Arlington County, concerning the Lees' life at various army postings and the activities of their children.

Correspondence (sections 1–36) and several letterbooks (sections 39, 40, 42 and 43) document Robert E. Lee's service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Fortress Monroe, Va., Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Mo., Fort Hamilton, N.Y., Baltimore, Md., and in Texas and Mexico, and his tenure as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., 1852–1855; his Civil War service as leader of Virginia's military forces and later the Army of Northern Virginia; and his post-war position as president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University). The letters contain frequent mention of family and friends.

The Lees seven children are also represented throughout the collection, including George Washington Custis Lee (1832–1913), William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (1837–1891), Robert Edward Lee (1843–1914), Mary Custis Lee (1835–1918), Anne Carter Lee (1839–1862), Eleanor Agnes Lee (1841–1873), and Mildred Childe Lee (1846–1905). Letters to their parents and each other discuss their coming of age in the 1850s, including their education and the effect of the Civil War on their lives at home and while serving in the Confederate army. Also included is a scrapbook, 1854–1870, kept by Agnes Lee, in part while attending the Virginia Female Institute in Staunton (section 44); and a scrapbook, 1898–1918, of Mary Custis Lee kept while traveling in Europe and Egypt (section 45).

Lee, Eleanor Agnes, Diary, 1852–1858. 1 volume. Mss5:1L5114:1.Eleanor Agnes Lee (1841–1873), fifth child of Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) and Mary Anne Randolph (Custis) Lee (1808–1873), began this diary at the suggestion of her governess. Kept at Arlington, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the Virginia Female Institute at Staunton, the diary contains reflections on Lee's family and detailed descriptions of her social life. She discusses teaching slaves, her own education, and her religious and emotional development. The volume also contains recollections, 1884–1891, of Lee's sister, Mildred Childe Lee (1846–1905), who describes Agnes's death and the garden at Arlington. Obituary notices for Agnes, poems, and one of her report cards from the Female Institute are filed with the diary. It has been edited and published by Mary Custis (Lee) deButts as Growing Up in the 1850's: The Journal of Agnes Lee (Chapel Hill, 1984).

Lee, George Bolling, Papers, 1732–1870. 85 items. Mss1L5114b. Microfilm reel C277.This collection contains papers of three generations of members of the Lee and Custis families. Letters, 1814–1817, of Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee (1756–1818) document his opinions toward his children and reflect concern for his family's safety during the War of 1812 (b29–31). Correspondence, 1813–1848, of Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis (1788–1853) of Arlington discusses family news and her religious predilections (b38–50); a letter, 1848, to her daughter, Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee (1808–1873), contains instructions for distributing her mother's personal property after her death (b41). The letters, 1824–1868, of Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee account for about two-thirds of the collection and discuss family news both before and after her marriage to Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870), as well as her life at various army posts (b54–85). The collection also contains a few letters, 1776–1778, from John Parke Custis (1754–1781) to George Washington (1732–1799) that discuss management of Custis's plantations and the Virginia militia and other military and political activities during the Revolutionary war (b1–11). There are a few papers of other family members.

Lee, George Bolling, Papers, 1841–1868. 78 items. Mss1L5114c. Microfilm reel C278.This collection consists almost entirely of letters written by Confederate general Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) of Arlington in Fairfax County (now Arlington County) to members of his family; most were written before the Civil War, while Lee served in the U.S. Army. Letters, 1842–1844, to his mother-in-law, Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis (1788–1853), discuss the education of his children, business affairs, and slavery (sections 2–9). Fourteen faded letters, 1847–1860, to his wife, Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee (1808–1873), primarily concern Lee's service in the Mexican War (sections 10–24 and 31). Letters, 1861–1863, to his daughter-in-law, Charlotte Georgiana (Wickham) Lee, contain family news, encouragement regarding her husband's Civil War service, and advice on southern women's roles on the home front (sections 45 and 47–58). Letters, 1858–1868, to his son, William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (1837–1891), include information on farming, secession, his wife's health, and the family's post-war activities (sections 25–30, 32–44, 46, 59, 61–65, 67–74 and 77). Some letters have been published in J. William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee (New York, 1906).

Lee, George Bolling, Papers, 1872–1948. 247 items. Mss1L5114d. Microfilm reel C278.The collection consists primarily of correspondence of William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (1837–1891). Letters, 1863–1891, to his second wife, Mary Tabb (Bolling) Lee (1848–1924), discuss family news, farming operations, and visits to friends and family in Virginia (section 3). Letters, 1863–1869, from his father, Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870), contain information on his efforts to settle the estate of his father-in-law, George Washington Parke Custis (1781–1857), and family news (section 1). The collection also includes a cookbook, 1860–1868, that belonged to Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee (1808–1873) (section 11) and letters, 1844–1870, written by Robert E. Lee to his wife's cousin, Martha Custis (Williams) Carter (1827–1899), and his mother-in-law, Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis (1788–1853), discussing Mary Custis's poor health, family news, and his life while serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Hamilton, N.Y., and as superintendent of the U.S. Miltary Academy at West Point, N.Y. (section 16). The letters of Robert E. Lee to Martha Custis (Williams) Carter are printed in "To Markie": The Letters of Robert E. Lee to Martha Custis Williams (Cambridge, Mass., 1933).

Lee, Mary Custis, Papers, 1694–1917. 6,495 items. Mss1L5144a. Restricted access.This collection consists of family papers compiled by Mary Custis Lee (1835–1918), who was the eldest daughter of General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) and Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee (1807–1873) of Arlington House in what is now Arlington, Va. Very close to her father, she never married and traveled the world and the United States after her parents' deaths. The collection contains materials relating to several generations of the Lee family and related Custis family of Virginia.

A small but significant amount of material relating to the widow Martha (Dandridge) Custis, who later married George Washington, appears early in the collection. This includes accounts, 1757–1759, maintained as executrix of the estate of her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis (section 1). The correspondence of her grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, who built Arlington House, includes letters written to his wife, Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis, early in their marriage while she was away from Arlington and he was remodeling the house and modifying the grounds there (section 3). Her own correspondence (sections 9–11), ca. 1808–1852, primarily with immediate and extended family members, includes numerous letters about her involvement in the American Colonization Society and her interest in the care of slaves and the antislavery movement in general.

Correspondence, 1829–1873, of her only surviving daughter, Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee , the wife of Robert E. Lee, concerns family life, family relationships, and life during and after the Civil War (sections 23–26); while the extensive correspondence, 1838–1917, of Mary Custis Lee herself concerns family life, family relationships, life during and after the Civil War, and the people she met and experiences she had on her travels around the country and throughout the world (sections 33–38). That last matter is the subject of numerous travel journals (sections 28–32—currently under restricted access), as well a large number of documents and artifacts collected by Lee while she traveled (sections 52–55). Other series of records include financial materials (section 39) and documents relating to the attempts of the Lee family to recover papers and other personal property removed or confiscated during the Civil War from Arlington House and other locations (sections 42–43).

The correspondence of General Lee (sections 12–15), 1830–1870, includes courtship letters between Lee and Mary Anna Randolph Custis, as well as candid letters to Mary Custis Lee as a child and young woman, especially during the Civil War (some items are currently under restricted access or use).

Lee, Richard Bland, Papers, 1771–1865. 19 items. Mss1L5153b.Correspondence of Richard Bland Lee (1761–1827) of Sully in Fairfax County and of his wife, Elizabeth (Collins) Lee (1768?–1858) of Sully and Washington, D.C., accounts for more than half of this collection. His correspondence, 1805–1820, chiefly concerns the estate of Richard Lee (1726–1794) (section 1). Her correspondence, 1806–1858, is with women friends and includes a detailed description, 1806, of the wedding of Cornelia (Lee) Hopkins (1780–1815) at Bellevue in Stafford County (section 3). The collection also contains a few financial and legal papers pertaining to other family members (section 4).

Lee, Richard Bland, Papers, 1794–1836. 65 items. Mss1L5153a. Microfilm reel C29.Although named for Richard Bland Lee (1761–1827), this collection consists primarily of correspondence, 1794–1835, of his wife and widow, Elizabeth (Collins) Lee (1768?–1858) of Sully in Fairfax County (section 2). Principal correspondents include her brother, Zacheus Collins (1764–1831) of Philadelphia, and her daughter, Ann Matilda (Lee) Washington (1799–1880). Letters discuss various family members, family property, plantation management, domestic activities, and financial affairs. The collection also includes a small amount of her husband's correspondence, 1794–1813, that contains information on finances (section 1).

Leigh, Elizabeth Edmunds Monroe, Memoir, ca. 1975. 12 pp. Photocopy of typescript. Mss5:1L5334:1.In "Ridgeway, Charlotte County, Virginia" Elizabeth Edmunds (Monroe) Leigh (b. 1893) recalls her childhood. She describes the grounds of Ridgeway, a working farm, and mentions neighboring estates Staunton Hill and Red Hill. She remembers a black nurse as her "mammy," and discusses the construction of a church organized by whites for African Americans in Charlotte County.

Leigh, Anne Campbell Carter, Drawing book, 1858. 20 pp. Mss5:10L5334:1. Microfilm reel C265.These pencil drawings, done in New Kent County by Anne Campbell (Carter) Leigh (b. 1842), depict animals, buildings, and rural scenes. According to an inscription on the inside cover, they were "found by Federal soldiers on the piano in Rebel Gen. Lee's house, Virginia, during the war. Sent home by brother Eli in 1863. White House on York River. I put them together in book form. Found among Hannah Ditzler Alspaugh's collection after her death in 1938." The Naperville Heritage Society of Naperville, Ill., presented the volume to the VHS in 1980.

Lewis, Samuel Edwin, Papers, 1861–1917. ca. 3,350 items. MssL5884aFA2.Samuel Edwin Lewis (1838–1917), a Washington, D.C., physician, served the Confederacy as a surgeon at Winder Hospital in Richmond. After the war he returned to the District where he became active in Confederate veteran organizations. His papers primarily concern that aspect of his postwar life. Records of the United Confederate Veterans (boxes 16–21), the Confederate Veterans Association of the District of Columbia (boxes 2–5), and the Association of Medical Officers of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy (boxes 22–25) illuminate women's involvement with those organizations. Records, 1897–1899, concern relief to needy Confederate veterans, their widows, and their children, especially through the efforts of the Southern Relief Society of the District of Columbia, a local women's organization (box 5). A scrapbook, 1901, documents the controversy between the United Confederate Veterans, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Katie (Walker) Behan (1847–1918), president of the Confederated Southern Memorial Association, regarding proposed sites for the reburial of Confederate dead interred in northern cemeteries (box 17). Records, 1904–1906, of Lewis's service on the General Advisory Board of the Johnson's Island Confederate Cemetery Commission primarily contain correspondence with Mary Patton Hudson, president of a local UDC chapter in Ohio (box 13). Materials, 1909–1911, collected by Lewis as chairman of a United Confederate Veterans Monumental Committee concern the Jefferson Davis Monument Association of New Orleans and consist primarily of correspondence with Katie Behan (box 17). There are also materials related to an article prepared by Lewis for the Southern Practitioner on Ella (King) Newsom Trader (1838–1919), the so-called "Florence Nightingale of the South," and a key figure in the C.S.A. hospital service (box 25). These materials include correspondence with and about Trader, a veteran's organization resolution, and collected notes, articles, and clippings. A finding aid is available in the repository.

Lewis, Sydney and Frances, Papers, ca. 1950–2003. ca. 3,200 items. Mss1L5888bFA2.Collection includes alphabetical files of correspondence and other materials concerning the Lewis's support of and friendship with a number of contemporary artists; records concerning a large financial gift to Washington and Lee University; more general correspondence reflecting other philanthropic activities; speeches made by Sydney Lewis while serving on the board of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and also an extensive collection of performance programs reflecting the Lewises' interest in theater, music, and dance. Many programs include post-performance annotations by Mrs. Lewis. The Best Products Foundation and the Sydney and Frances Lewis Foundation supported many of the events they attended. Personal Files (Series Five) contain correspondence of Frances Lewis and her husband, along with correspondence concerning parties and tours held at their house on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. Within the miscellaneous files (Series 5.5) one can find family information and a transcript of an oral history by Sydney and Frances Lewis prepared by the Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives.

Lightfoot, Emmeline Allmand Crump, Memoir, ca. 1927. 2 volumes. Typescripts. Mss5:1L6266:1–2.In the first volume of her memoir, Emmeline Allmand (Crump) Lightfoot (b. 1847), daughter of the assistant secretary of the Treasury for the Confederate States of America, reminisces about the evacuation of Richmond in 1865, including her mother's oversight of the family and the assistance proffered by a free black. Lightfoot memorializes Robert E. Lee and other Confederate soldiers in the tradition of the Lost Cause. The second volume recalls Lightfoot's subsequent flight to Mathews County as a seventeen-year-old. She travelled with an aunt and an eighteen-year-old female relative in a Federal ambulance. The memoir also includes observations on life in Gloucester County during Reconstruction.

Linkous Family Papers, 1891–1894. 14 items. Mss1L6487a. Microfilm reel C470.This small collection documents the education of Bessie A. (Linkous) Bell (1875–1955) and her sister Kate. It includes letters to their father, Joseph Price Linkous (1832–1893) of Cambria, from William Anderson Harris (1827–1895) of the Wesleyan Female Institute in Staunton and report cards for Bessie from that institution and the Virginia College for Young Ladies in Roanoke.

Litchfield Family Papers, 1837–1992. 1,598 items. Mss1L7115a.Contain the papers of several generations of the Litchfield family of Abingdon. George Victor Litchfield's (1837–1903) papers consist of correspondence, and financial, legal, and land records (sections 2–8). His accounts, 1875–1901, concern, in part, payment of tuition for his daughters at the Virginia Female Institute in Staunton (section 3). Also includes correspondence, 1865–1892, accounts, and miscellany of George's wife, Elizabeth Pannill (Peirce) Litchfield (1843–1892) (sections 10–12); and correspondence, 1883–1955, of their daughters Anne Stuart (Litchfield) Bolling (1869–1944), Elizabeth Peirce (Litchfield) Stuart (1873–1956), and Mary Litchfield (1875–1936) (section 18, 20 and 22). Letters written by the three sisters chronicle, in part, their lives as students together and separately at the Virginia Female Institute, the Fairmont Seminary in Washington, D.C., and the Shipley School at Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Literary Club of Fredericksburg, Va., Records, 1899–1994. 224 items. Mss3L7125a.Founded in 1892 to promote intellectual growth among single and married women in Fredericksburg, the Literary Club of Fredericksburg has met regularly for nearly one hundred years. Its records include minutes, 1899–1918, documenting the intellectual interests of members (section 2); programs, 1913–1994, reflecting a concern with current events, including the Russian Revolution, Presidential elections, and both World Wars, as well as members' interests in gardens, books and libraries, and travel abroad (section 3); and copies of the Club's constitutions, 1968–1994 (section 5). Membership is limited to thirty women, and correspondence, 1968–1994, primarily contains offers of membership (section 1).

Logan, Anna Clayton Logan, Memoir, 1919. 77 pp. Photocopy of typescript. Mss5:1L8283:1.The loss of her possessions in a fire in Atlanta in 1917 inspired Anna Clayton (Logan) Logan (b. 1841) to write "Recollections of My Life." The memoir describes her childhood at Dungeness in Goochland County and discusses the Confederate military service of two of her brothers, as well as Logan's outrage at the decline in her family's standard of living following the Civil War. After the war, Logan moved to Salem, where she supported her family as a young, single woman by serving as headmistress of a school. The memoir also contains genealogical notes on the Logan, Dandridge, Strother, and Clayton families. It was transcribed in 1987 from Logan's manuscript, which remains in private hands.

Lomax, Judith, Diary, 1819–1827. 1 volume. Mss5:1L8378:1. Microfilm reel C282.This introspective diary documents the religious life of Judith Lomax (1774–1828) of Port Royal and Fredericksburg. Shortly after a dispute with her brothers, Lomax, a young, single woman, moved to Port Royal and used her inheritance to establish an independent household. She attended Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal church services held by itinerant ministers, although she resisted Baptist attempts to persuade her to abandon her Episcopalian denominational affiliation. In 1826, Lomax moved to Fredericksburg, where she found a more vibrant Episcopalian community. The diary contains notes on her financial contributions to religious institutions and associations, as well as her meditations on piety and a few observations on the status of women. A fictionalized version of the diary, created ca. 1920, is filed with the original. Two letters, 1815 and 1819, in the Tayloe Family Papers (Mss1T2118f33–34) illuminate Lomax's break with her brothers.

Long, Calista Rosser Cralle, Journal, 1836–1837. 19 pp. Typescript copy. Mss5:1L8502:1.This journal, 1836 December 4–1837 January 12, documents Calista Rosser (Cralle) Long's (1808–1841) and her husband's, Armistead Long (1801–1875), journey to move their home and family from Falling River Farm, Campbell County, Va., to Clifton, Union County, Ky., a distance of 600 miles over mountainous terrain during the icy winter. Included are descriptions of weather, people encountered, and events, such as a large fire in Charleston, Va. (now W.Va.). A few genealogical notes are also included.

Lownes, Ida Spooner, Commonplace Book, 1840. 12 pp. Photocopy. Mss5:5L9547:1.This volume, kept by Ida (Spooner) Lownes (1819–1889) of Petersburg, contains the names of 263 men who called on her, including her future husband, Henry Lownes, and gives their places of residence. Separate lists provide the names and residences of Lownes's boarding school classmates in Philadelphia and New Haven, Conn. Yet another list names young women and the men they "walked with."

Lucas Family Papers, 1804–1913. 55 items. Mss1L9625b.Correspondence, 1853–1908, of Daniel Bedinger Lucas (1836–1909) of Jefferson County (now W. Va.) constitutes nearly half of this collection and includes a letter to his sister, Sally Eleanor (Lucas) Bedinger (1834–1867), encouraging her to find a husband and two letters, 1853–1856, to his cousin Sarah E. Lucas about social life in Shepherdstown, W. Va. (section 3). The remainder of the collection consists of scattered correspondence and other papers of assorted Lucas family members, including about a half-dozen women. Among them is Evelyn Tucker (Brooke) Lucas's (1838–1928) letter, 1865, concerning the evacuation of Richmond (section 5).

Lucas Family Papers, 1836–1869. 57 items. Mss1L9625a.This collection consists primarily of business correspondence, 1836–1869, of attorney William Lucas (1800–1877) of Jefferson County (now W. Va.). Letters, 1836–1841, to his brother, Edward Lucas (1790–1858), discuss politics and William's service in the U.S. House of Representatives (section 3). Letters from Anne E. (Davis) Bedinger of Nicholas County, Ky., concern the education and rearing of William's daughter, Virginia Bedinger Lucas (1838–1865) (section 3). There are also a few letters, 1844–1850, from Sally Eleanor (Lucas) Bedinger (1834–1867) to her father (section 3).

Lynch, Mildred Gibson, Diary, 1860–1871. 1 vol. Mss5:1L9895:1.A record of family life, as well as personal, intellectual, religious, philosophical, and emotional issues in the life of Mildred Gibson Lynch, presumably at Valley Home, near Fishersville, Augusta County, and in Philippi, W.Va. Comments focus particularly on the rise of sentiments in Virginia toward secession.

Lyne, Cassandra Oliver Moncure, Papers, 1863–1941. 64 items. Mss1L9933a.The will, 1887, of William Henry Lyne (1843–1887) of Orange County named his wife, Cassandra Oliver (Moncure) Lyne (1845–1934), as sole executor, and this collection primarily dates from her widowhood (section 2). It contains letters, 1880–1923, to her from her adult children, including some written during World War I, and other family members (section 3), as well as letters, accounts, and legal papers documenting her management and sale of real estate in Orange County and Richmond (sections 4 and 5). There are also a few papers pertaining to other family members.

Lyons, Elizabeth Watkins Henry, Scrapbooks, 1871–1897 and 1895–1920. 2 volumes. Mss5:7L9955:1–2.Most of the newspaper clippings in these two scrapbooks, compiled by Elizabeth Watkins (Henry) Lyons (1855–1920) of Richmond, concern Virginia people, places, and events deemed historically significant. There are also genealogical columns on the Henry family, and two articles, "Introducing Flirting in Virginia" and "A Royal Flush," written by Lyons for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.